Spontaneous Broadway
Encyclopedia
Spontaneous Broadway is an advanced long-form improvised
performance, usually based on audience suggestions. The audience typically submits titles of songs that have never been written, and the performers choose suggestions to create songs, the audience votes through acclamation on their favourite song, which is then used as the core of a brand new Broadway
musical.
The format received a favorable review from The New York Times when it premiered in New York in 1995.
Though not required or necessarily encouraged by improv professionals, elements of humor inevitably surface in the performance because of the surprising and playful nature of improvisation and its use of typical Broadway stereotypes. The performers' songs are supported by an onstage musician or band that improvises the music, generally in the style of typical show tunes.
The format was created in New York City and has been performed by a number of different companies around the US.
The Spontaneous Broadway format was created by Kat Koppett in association with Freestyle Repertory Theatre in New York. Koppett is a 20-year improv veteran, having worked with Freestyle Repertory Theatre) and San Francisco's BATS Improv
. She is currently a performer with and Training director for the Mop & Bucket Company, an improv troupe based in the Capital District of New York State. In 1995, TheaterWeek Magazine named Kat one of the year's "Unsung Heroes" for her creation of Spontaneous Broadway, which is now performed regularly by teams of actors all over the world.
On 6 April 2010, the show began its run at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia. It went down very well with the audience in the Arts Centre's Fairfax Studio.
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
performance, usually based on audience suggestions. The audience typically submits titles of songs that have never been written, and the performers choose suggestions to create songs, the audience votes through acclamation on their favourite song, which is then used as the core of a brand new Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical.
The format received a favorable review from The New York Times when it premiered in New York in 1995.
Though not required or necessarily encouraged by improv professionals, elements of humor inevitably surface in the performance because of the surprising and playful nature of improvisation and its use of typical Broadway stereotypes. The performers' songs are supported by an onstage musician or band that improvises the music, generally in the style of typical show tunes.
The format was created in New York City and has been performed by a number of different companies around the US.
The Spontaneous Broadway format was created by Kat Koppett in association with Freestyle Repertory Theatre in New York. Koppett is a 20-year improv veteran, having worked with Freestyle Repertory Theatre) and San Francisco's BATS Improv
BATS Improv
BATS Improv is a non-profit improvisational theatre company in San Francisco. Founded in 1986, their unique style of acting-based improvisational theatre is well-known in improv circles around the world...
. She is currently a performer with and Training director for the Mop & Bucket Company, an improv troupe based in the Capital District of New York State. In 1995, TheaterWeek Magazine named Kat one of the year's "Unsung Heroes" for her creation of Spontaneous Broadway, which is now performed regularly by teams of actors all over the world.
On 6 April 2010, the show began its run at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia. It went down very well with the audience in the Arts Centre's Fairfax Studio.